Microsoft teams with Vodafone for Web services on the road

Microsoft is teaming up with telecom service provider Vodafone UK to develop mobile intranet services for businesses.

Microsoft is teaming up with telecom service provider Vodafone UK to develop mobile intranet services for businesses. Top of the list of developments is bringing Microsoft Outlook to wireless devices.

In a trial slated to launch next spring in Europe, people will use cell phones equipped with Microsoft's mobile software, Mobile Explorer, to access E-mail and retrieve Web content and other information remotely from a Microsoft Exchange server. Financial details about the deal were not disclosed.

This announcement is part of Microsoft's expansion from the desktop operating system to the wireless world, says TeleChoice analyst Eric Rasmussen. "From Microsoft's perspective, there is no default wireless operating system. A lot of players are vying to be the 'Windows' for wireless, and it's a potentially huge market for Microsoft."